Books by Librarians

You know lots of librarians turn to writing, right? That Jorge Luis Borges was a librarian is pretty well-known but this list of the Top 10 Books Written By Librarians from online bookseller AbeBooks might surprise you. I didn’t know Madeleine L’Engle was a librarian. But another of my very favorite children’s book authors, Beverly Cleary, was a librarian for many years. Do you have other fave librarian-authors?

Bonus: at the bottom of the list is a link to songs about libraries and librarians. They left out my favorite library song though.

Ina Coolbrith, first poet laureate of California, was a librarian in Oakland during the late 1800s. We have her biography at Gleeson — PS1397.C5 Z9 — and her poetry — PS1397.C5 W77. I really enjoyed reading about Coolbrith’s life a couple of months ago. Nella Larsen, author of Quicksand and Passing, was a library assistant for a few years in Harlem. The poet Marianne Moore was also a library assistant in New York.